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EDUC 8807**
 * Weeks 3 & 4 Discussion
 * Duke, Ferreira, Groves, Ware, Haggerty, Rodgers**

You, together, form a consultant group brought in to advise the Superintendent of the Reed-Enwright District regarding the problem described by Posner on p. 104. How will you advise the Superintendent?

SEE MY (TONI'S) INPUT UNDERLINED. I'VE PLACED BRACKETS [ ] AROUND WORDS THAT I FEEL SHOULD BE DELETED - SINCE WE DON'T HAVE THE OPTION TO STRIKE OUT TEXT VIA THIS WIKI EDITOR. I'LL ALSO POST THIS ENTIRE RECOMMENDATION ON THE DISCUSSION BOARD VIA OUR GROUP THREAD. **BOLD TEXT ARE MY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TEXT.**

Dr. Spagnola, Superintendent __of Reed-Enwright School District__, __as a professional education consultant group,__ we __would like to__ propose the following solution to the current problem __of low academic performance__ in your school district.

__Upon careful evaluation of__ Reed-Enwright School District’s situation, it is clear that the underlying assumptions to each position __of concerned educators__ have considerable merit. __Dr. Spagnola, the recommendation made by you and the curriculum coordinator__ to break __down components of__ the BRCT by domain and __teach__ to __the test__ is one way to improve instruction __and test performance__ __is a popular decision__. This __one__ fact could be considered a typical process in school improvement to raise student achievement. [Whereas] Mr. Schmidt appears to understand the larger, more complex instructional sequence that is associated with the development of reading skills. It is clear that the content of [their] your perspectives **differ in theory**, as each of you may be “seeing the problem through a different lens” Not a direct quote...simply my statement __(if this is a direct quote, need citation). However, the culture of the student population must be considered when evaluating a viable response to intervention.__

The problem is that [__disadvantaged]__ __a large number of third grade students in the Reed-Enwright School District__ are __performing__ below the mean on the Basic Reading Competency Test and the school __district__ has been cited __due to it's poor performance on the state test__. Unfortunately, test results and [school]districtwide performance may need to drive decision making in regards to the best approach to this situation. As the school has already been cited, an expedited rate of improvement must be achieved. [I say this but am also aware that it may not mean this it is the best choice for education or the students themselves.] **(As consultants, we don't want to insinuate that we have not come up with the best solution. (-:)**

The bottom line is that the test scores need to increase and they need to increase within a short period of time [(perhaps over the course of the next year)]. A two-fold approach should be considered: first, effective lessons should be developed and and __meaningful__ instruction__al practices__ that will address the skills necessary for achievement on the BRCT. __Extensive professional development will need to be researched and coordinated for all district teachers;__ the second __approach that we recommend is__ a more comprehensive development of curriculum __for the core areas (testing subjects)__. The __curriculum will incorporate__ and consideration background __and multiethnic__ experiences __of students__, change the approach to instruction, __provide many opportunities for__ remediation and __differentiation__ [content recovery], and perhaps strengthen formative assessments. The low socio-economic status of many students __could indeed__ act as a serious impediment to literacy development among children, and any approach prescribed must take __their degree of economic deprivation__ into account; [if students' long term literacy development and general attitudes towards school and their own capabilities are to be enhanced.] however, Reeves (2003) discovered after conducting research in what has been termed "90/90/90 Schools" (schools with 90% members of ethnic minority groups, 90% of the students are eligible for free and reduced lunch, and 90% of the students met district or state academic standards in reading or another area) that "while economic deprivation clearly affects student achievement, demographic characteristics do not determine academic performance" (Reeves, 2003, p. 1). It is always asumed that schools will have poor academic performance when the majority of its students are minority and poor, but that doesn't have to be the case. Reeves (2003) noted that the "common characteristics" of the schools he found to be high achieving were schools that placed: 1. "a focus on academic achievement 2. clear curriculum choices [for students] 3. Frequent assessment of student progres and multiple opportunities for improvement 4. an emphasis on nonfiction writing 5. collaborative scoring of student work"

We recommend that your district implement these research-based strategies in all of your schools, one by one, after providing sufficient professional development in these areas. Success will not happen quickly, but with positive change, and teacher cooperation and buy-in, academic improvement and success will come in time. We will monitor growth of your district as these changes are implemented, and alter them if we need to at specific time intervals. [If there is no agreement on these suggestions, there are many other options.] (**I don't think we should provide an opportunity for them NOT to agree with our advice. It's research-based, and well thought through, right?! (-:)** I agree here with Toni!!!

[Since a percentage of the third grade has performed below the state’s mean at the reading level, we might approach the problem by first explaining the problem to the children. We then should provide the children with reading material they may enjoy and one that is relevant to this district. The reading material should address life difficulties and educational success stories.]

Well-known writers such as Paulo Freire suggest__s__ that students must want to learn in order to learn what they need (Posner, __2004, p. ???__). We also suggest that the district invest in a research-based __technology__ program that has proven to be successful in elementary schools __that students can access from school or at home with internet access. These types of programs can help stimulate student learning, make learning fun, and provide different ways of obtaining the same instructional material__. According to Wrights Law, a website that provides research based information and advocacy for special needs in education, it is suggested that such programs work for all children (Wrightslaw.com). Another [research] site (Reading Programs That Work) suggests many reading programs such as Success For All (SFA), Direct Instruction/DISTAR, Carbo Reading Styles Program, (CRSP), and Concept Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI). These are many of the available programs to your district. What about inserting some information regarding formative assesment training for teachers... I forgot to erase the top part. I think the bottom section sounds better than the top part. I edited a little. Can you guys take a look at it and decide if it sounds better after. I think it does. (isabelle) **GREAT JOB, ISABELLE! I MADE A FEW EDITS (SEE MY NOTES AT TOP). THANKS FOR INITIATING OUR POST.**

Posner, G. (2004). Analyzing the curriculum (3rd Ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Reading Programs That Work. Retrieved on March 24th, 2010 from @http://www.mccreary.k12.ky.us/curriculum/reading_research.pdf

Reeves, D. (2003). //High performance in high poverty schools: 90/90/90 and beyond.// Center for Performance Assessment.

Wrightslaw.com. Retrieved on March 24th, 2010 from @http://www.wrightslaw.com/nclb/rbi.htmmance in high pover